The Improved James Bond Drink Order

Those wily, Bond-loving Brits have discovered one more way to improve your vodka martini: Stir it with a pencil. According to brainy readers of the European science magazine New Scientist, a thin, wooden object trumps a metal cocktail spoon or — gasp! — a regular old tablespoon for stirring the drink, on account of the fact that metal is highly conductive and thus warms your booze. Wood, on the other hand, will leave your martini ice-cold.

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Cocktail nerds have long lamented Bond's famous drink order ("vodka martini — shaken, not stirred"), objecting that real martinis are made with gin, which is to be poured into a chilled glass that has been washed with vermouth and then stirred, never shaken. Shaking is said to "bruise" the vodka/gin, and we all know how sensitive clear spirits can be. Now you have more evidence to stick with the spoon — and leave Bond to the good lines. [The Telegraph]